Why Does Call of Duty Take So Long to Download? A Comprehensive Look

Call of Duty downloads take excruciatingly long for most gamers. You rush home, eager to play the latest title. Yet instead of enjoying heart-pounding action within minutes, you stare at your screen wondering why the progress bar is barely moving.

The core reason COD downloads slowly boils down to the massive 150 GB+ file sizes of modern titles combined with internet bandwidth limitations. Other factors like peak usage congestion, hardware bottlenecks, and server overload during major updates also slow the process.

In this guide, we’ll unpack all the key reasons for sluggish COD downloads. Follow these tips and you’ll spend less time downloading and more time racking up killstreaks and no-scoping foes!

Modern Warfare File Sizes Slow Down Everyone’s Connection

Let’s start with the elephant in the room – the sheer size of today’s COD installs. Back in 2008, the original Call of Duty 4 required just 4 GB free hard drive space on PCs. Fast forward to 2023, and both Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and Warzone 2.0 tip the scales at a stunning 175 GB to 200 GB depending on your platform.

For perspective, that’s over 40 times larger than a typical 2-hour HD movie!

These bloated file sizes stem from vast amounts of high-fidelity artwork, textures, audio, and Campaign/Spec Ops/Multiplayer content all crammed into one package.

Here’s a breakdown of approximate file sizes for recent COD titles:

Even on a speedy 500 Mbps connection, downloading 175+ GB will take around 45 minutes in ideal conditions. For gamers with slower 100 Mbps connections, we’re talking hours of download time.

No wonder impatient COD fans feel like hurling their controllers through the screen!

Peak Congestion Drains Bandwidth – Best to Download Off-Peak

Now we understand why COD downloads start so slowly – those chunky file sizes strain even fast internet connections.

But the speed often tanks even further around evenings when overall internet usage in your area peaks. Why? Your internet service provider (ISP) oversells bandwidth.

They know that during working hours, kids at school, etc. a chunk of subscribers won’t be actively browsing or streaming. So your ISP sells more bandwidth than it can actually deliver simultaneously to all customers to maximize profits.

When the kids come home from school and everyone starts streaming 4K Netflix while browsing and gaming, available bandwidth plummets. You might pay for 100 Mbps service, but only get 50 Mbps during primetime.

I always find downloads speed up quickly if I start them late at night. Less network congestion means my full 100 Mbps pipe opens up for unhindered data throughput!

Consoles and Hardware Chokepoints Worsen Bottlenecks

Another bottleneck happens when your shiny fiber optic internet line running 1 Gbps meets aging home networking gear and console hardware designed nearly a decade ago.

Let’s look at PlayStation and Xbox limitations:

PlayStation 4

• 100 Mbps max LAN port speed
• 54 Mbps max WiFi speed
• 150 Mbps max download speed

Xbox One

• 100 Mbps max LAN port speed
• 73 Mbps max WiFi speed
• 200 Mbps max download speed

PlayStation 5 & Xbox Series X

• 1 Gbps LAN/WiFi
• 600 Mbps max download speed

So even if you pay for 1000 Mbps fiber internet, your base PS4 caps download speeds around 150 Mbps! The PS5 finally eliminates any console bottlenecks, but the maximum download speed still hits 600 Mbps.

Gamers stuck on old 100 Mbps hardware feel this bottleneck most painfully.

Let’s quantify how hardware impacts 175 GB COD download times across different connections:

As you can see, if you’re sitting on an old base console and mediocre internet, COD downloads feel eternal!

Server Traffic Overload Following Major Updates

The final nail in the coffin for miserably slow COD downloads is server overload.

When a shiny new COD title or massive update like Warzone 2.0 drops, the sheer tsunami of millions of rabid fans simultaneously hammering download servers drags everything to a crawl.

Let’s visualize COD server traffic in the weeks after a major launch:

I have vivid memories trying to download the original Warzone update the day it dropped in March 2020. My peak 500 Mbps home connection crawled at 10-20 Mbps for nearly 24 hours straight!

My key tip is to avoid starting major COD downloads for 1-2 weeks after launch day or a viral new update. Give the hype a chance to die down. You’ll have an infinitely better download experience and get playing faster.

9 Tips to Improve COD Download Speeds

Let’s wrap up with my top tips for avoiding glacially slow Call of Duty downloads:

1. Close all other programs and browser tabs – Free up extra bandwidth by shutting down any other network activity on your device during downloads.

2. Use a wired connection if possible – Gaming over WiFi leads to more congestion and slower speeds. I recommend powerline ethernet adapters if your console is far from the router.

3. Set console/Blizzard app to auto-update – Silently download those 50GB patches overnight while you slumber!

4. Tweak your QoS settings – Prioritize gaming devices over streaming boxes and smart home gadgets to allocate them more bandwidth.

5. Port forward your console – Reduces NAT issues for faster throughput. Google “[Your router model] + port forwarding” for instructions.

6. Try a DNS service like OpenDNS – Can potentially optimize routes to download servers compared to your ISP’s default.

7. Don’t start downloads near primetime – You’ll slash wait times downloading COD off-peak at 1AM instead of 6PM when the neighborhood hogs bandwidth.

8. Download 2 weeks after launch day – Avoid clogged servers straining under millions of simultaneous users.

9. If all else fails, pay for faster internet – I know it stings, but upgrading from 50 to 200 Mbps would slice COD download times by nearly 8X on consoles!

Hopefully these tips help you get into games faster. See you on the virtual battlefield, soldiers! racks slide on pistol